CHAPTER XI
OBEDIENCE
OBEDIENCE AN ETERNAL PRINCIPLE. We have entered into the bond of that new
and everlasting covenant agreeing that we would obey the commandments of God
in all things whatsoever he shall command us. This is an everlasting covenant
even unto the end of our days. And when is the end of our days? We may think
it has reference to the end of our mortal lives; that a time will come after
we have finished this probation when we can live without obedience to the
commandments of God. This is a great error. We shall never see the day in time
nor in eternity, when it will not be obligatory, and when it will not be a
pleasure as well as a duty for us, as his children, to obey all the
commandments of the Lord throughout the endless ages of eternity. It is upon
this principle that we keep in touch with God, and remain in harmony with his
purposes. It is only in this way that we can consummate our mission, and
obtain our crown and the gift of eternal lives, which is the greatest gift of
God. Can you imagine any other way?
God has established all things in their order. The house of God is a
house of order, and not a house of confusion. In this house God himself is the
Supreme Head, and he must be obeyed. Christ is in the image and likeness of
his being, his Only Begotten Son, and he stands as our Savior and our God. We
must walk in his paths, and observe his precepts to do them, or we will be cut
off. Next unto God and Christ, on the earth is placed one unto whom the keys
of power and the authority of the holy Priesthood are conferred, and unto whom
the right of presidency is given. He is God's mouthpiece to his people, in all
things pertaining to the building up of Zion and to the spiritual and temporal
salvation of the people. He is as God's vicegerent; I do not hesitate to
announce this truth; for it is his word, and therefore it is true. The people
who have entered into covenant to keep the commandments of the Lord must
hearken unto the voice of him who is placed to preside over them; and,
secondarily, to those who are called to act with him as his counselors in the
holy Priesthood. It takes this council of three to constitute the presiding
and governing authority of the Priesthood on the earth. God the Father, God
the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, constitute the Godhead and the matchless
governing quorum over all the creations of the Father. Three men stand at the
head of the Church on the earth. Yet there are those who call themselves
Saints who hesitate not to rise up in condemnation of, and to express words of
hatred and malice toward these men who stand at the head of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. -- Apr. C. R., 1898, pp. 68-69.
HOW TO RISE ABOVE THE WEAKNESS OF MORTALITY. I would like all the
Latter-day Saints to feel in their hearts that the work in which they are
engaged is not only the work that God has instituted in the latter days, but
that it is a work in which each individual member of the Church is deeply and
vitally interested. Every man and every woman should feel a deep and abiding
interest in the work of the Lord, in the growth and development of the great
latter-day cause, which cause is intended for the redemption of all men from
the powers of sin, from all its contaminating effects, for the redemption of
man from his own weakness and ignorance, and from the grasp that Satan holds
upon the world, that men may be made free; for no man is or can be made free
without possessing a knowledge of the truth and obeying the same. It is only
the possession and observance of the truth that can make men free, and all
those who do not possess and obey it are slaves and not free men.
It is only by obedience to the laws of God that men can rise above the
petty weaknesses of mortality and exercise that breadth of affection, that
charity and love, that should actuate the hearts and the motives of the
children of men. The gospel as it has been restored is intended to make free
indeed, free to choose the good and forsake the evil, free to exercise that
boldness in their choice of that which is good, by which they are convinced of
right, notwithstanding the great majority of the people of the world may point
at them the finger of scorn and ridicule. It requires no especial bravery on
the part of men to swim with the currents of the world. When a man makes up
his mind to forsake the world and its follies and sins, and identify himself
with God's people, who are everywhere spoken evil of, it takes courage,
manhood, independence of character, superior intelligence and a determination
that is not common among men; for men shrink from that which is unpopular,
from that which will not bring them praise and adulation, from that which will
in any degree tarnish that which they call honor or a good name. -- Oct. C.
R., 1903, pp. 1, 2.
OBEDIENCE TO CHURCH ORDINANCES INDISPENSABLE. From remarks that sometimes
fall from members of the Church one is led to believe that they regard the
gospel of Jesus Christ simply from the standpoint of a code of morals; that if
one lives an honest, upright life, that is all that the gospel requires of
him; that it is not necessary to observe the rites, ceremonies and ordinances
of the Church; that the latter constitute a sort of religious trapping that
has no substantial value in the plan of life and salvation. Such a position
does not harmonize with the word of God given to this people nor with the
teachings of Christ in his day, nor is it in harmony with the universal
instinct of man to worship God.
Jesus himself attended to the ordinance of baptism; he instituted the
sacrament of the Lord's supper, and ordained its observance; and performed
other rites which he thought essential to man's salvation. In the case of
Nicodemus, he so emphasized baptism that he made the birth of water and the
Spirit essential to man's salvation.
Besides the rites and ceremonies and the moral effect they and other
means of worshiping God have upon the moral life of man, the gospel is also a
power in itself. It is a creative power which gives man not alone dominion in
the world, but the power, if he can attain it by his faith, to ordain and
create other worlds. On one occasion Jesus commended to the disciples the
value of faith as a power when he told them that if they had faith as a grain
of mustard, they could say unto the mountain, be thou removed, and it should
be done. It is true that our faith would be greatly weakened by acts of
immorality, and it might be wholly destroyed by such acts; but faith and
morality are not convertible terms. A moral life is one of the means by which
we cultivate faith, but it is not the only means. We may not see any moral
virtue in the ordinance of baptism, in the laying on of hands, or in any other
rite or ceremony of the Church, but our obedience to these rites and
ordinances may be quite as helpful in developing our faith as any act of
charity we may perform. Faith is always a gift of God to man, which is
obtained by obedience, as all other blessings are.
The man or woman in this Church who desires to enrich his or her faith to
the highest possible degree will desire to observe every rite and ordinance in
the Church in conformity to the law of obedience to the will of God. In these
things, and through them, man gains a more perfect knowledge of God's purposes
in the world. An enriched faith means an enlarged power, and though man may
not have in this life an occasion to exercise all the powers that come to him
through the enrichment of his faith, those powers may be exercised in their
fulness in eternity, if not in time. The man or woman, therefore, among the
Latter-day Saints, who does not see the necessity for the ordinances of the
House of God, who does not respond to the requirements of the gospel in all
its rites and ordinances, can have no proper conception of the great work
which the Latter-day Saints have been called upon to perform in this age, nor
can he or she enjoy the blessing that comes from the virtue of obedience to a
law higher than that of man. -- Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 38, November 1,
1903, p. 656.
OBEDIENCE BRINGS LIGHT AND FREEDOM. The gospel is very simple when we
understand it properly. It is plain and easily understood. It is always right,
good, uplifting, comforting and enlightening. It prompts men and women to do
that which is acceptable before God, who is just, righteous, all-wise,
all-good, and all-merciful.
The gospel teaches us to forgive, to overcome selfishness, covetousness;
to abjure anger, wrath, faultfinding, complaining and the spirit of contention
and strife. The gospel warns and forewarns the children of men against the
evils which bring disunion and contention and shut out honesty and love from
among the children of men; which mislead people to acts of injustice,
selfishness, covetousness, wickedness and sin, things which the gospel of
Jesus Christ teaches us to eschew and avoid as we would the gates of hell.
There is nothing intricate or incomprehensible in the gospel of Jesus Christ
to those who possess the Spirit of the Lord.
There is nothing mysterious and unaccountable in the dealings of God with
his children if we can only see and understand by the spirit of truth. Jesus
has given us in this life the example, the type of that which exists in
greater perfection, in a purer, higher and more glorious excellence where he
dwells himself. The gospel teaches us to do here just what we would be
required to do in the heavens, with God and the angels, if we would listen to
its teachings, and obey it, and put it into practice. There would be no
covetousness in the hearts of the children of men, if they possessed the
Spirit of Jesus Christ, and understood the precepts of the gospel as he taught
and admonished all men to observe them.
There would be no strife, no anger, nothing of the spirit of
unforgiveness, unchastity and injustice, in the hearts of the children of men,
if we loved the truth and obeyed it as it was taught by the Son of Man. With
this spirit we could advance to the extreme position that we would pray for
those who despitefully use us, who speak all manner of evil against us
falsely, accuse us of wrongdoing, and lay plans and plots to bring us into
disrepute. There would be no such desires in the hearts of the children of
men, if they possessed the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ. There would be no
contention, dishonor, nor dishonesty among neighbors nor in the communities of
the people. None would take advantage of the unwary, the weak or unsuspecting;
no one would seek to wrong another; but, on the contrary, we would feel like
Jesus himself expressed it, "he that is greatest among you, let him be the
servant of all." If we would be great among the children of men, let us show
that we are willing to serve and to do good to our fellowmen, set them a right
example, shield them from wrong, show them the right way, help them to avoid
error and sin, and to walk in the light, as God is in the light, that they may
have fellowship with him and with one another, and that the blood of Christ
may indeed cleanse them from all sin.
The spirit of the gospel should teach us that if men sue us at the law,
and take away our coat wrongfully and wickedly, intending to injure or degrade
us, that we would rise above the spirit of contention and retribution in our
own souls, and speak as Jesus spoke: "Forgive them, for they know not what
they do."
My brethren and sisters, if we would build up ourselves, or ever become
worthy to inherit the kingdom of God, we will do so on the principle of
eternal truth. The truth is what will make us free; free from error,
prejudice, selfishness, ignorance, contention, the power of the adversary of
our souls, free from the power of death and hell; free to inherit the fulness
of the everlasting gospel; free to have joy in our hearts for all things good
and for the welfare of mankind; free to forgive those who err because of lack
of judgment and understanding. But the Spirit of truth, mark you, will not
tolerate and will not forgive determined, premeditated and deliberate wrong in
man or woman, in the world -- truth will not tolerate it. We can not forgive
that kind or class of crime and wickedness. We can not, or if we do, we
transgress the laws of God, for he has no sympathy with Satan, nor with him
who knoweth to do good and doeth evil; who knoweth to do right but is
determined to do wrong. There is no forgiveness to such without humble and
most contrite repentance of sin. When one gets far enough along in the crime
of wickedness and disobedience to the principles of the gospel, and in the
abandonment of love for his fellowmen and for the Church of Jesus Christ, so
that he will fight and lie about the Church and the truth, and seek by every
power within his reach to injure and wrong them, there is no forgiveness for
that man, and if he goes just far enough, there is no repentance for him
either.
And how do you pray? To be heard because of many words? No; but because
the Lord has said it is your duty to inquire of him; I will be inquired of, by
my people; I will be asked for blessings, for my gifts, and the door will be
opened to those who knock, and those who seek after the truth shall find it.
Fathers, pray with your families; bow down with them morning and at
night; pray to the Lord, thank him for his goodness, mercy and Fatherly
kindness, just as our earthly fathers and mothers have been extremely kind to
us poor, disobedient and wayward children.
Do you pray? What do you pray for? You pray that God may recognize you,
that he may hear your prayers, and that he may bless you with his Spirit, and
that he may lead you into all truth and show you the right way; that he will
warn you against wrong and guide you into the right path; that you may not
fall astray, that you may not veer into the wrong way unto death, but that you
may keep in the narrow way. You pray for your wives to have health and
strength, blessed to be happy and contented, true to their children, true to
their homes, true to you. The wives pray that they may also have power to
overcome the weaknesses of fallen human nature, and rise to teach their
children the beauty and glory of a righteous life, and that the children may
be blessed to carry out in their lives the wish and desire of their parents;
that they may perfect their lives here by living up to the wise teachings of
the gospel. So we pray for what we need.
While in my boyhood days, when I was like some of these little boys, I
used to wonder -- how could the Lord hear me when I was in secret, or wherever
I might be? I wondered at it! Do you wonder at it now, when you have learned
something of the late discoveries made by human wisdom and human intelligence?
They have discovered that there is a principle by which communication
between distant points, thousands of miles away, may take place, and one man
may communicate with another through the air, his words and voice being
distinctly and clearly heard. If in the midst of the Pacific ocean, a thousand
or more miles from shore, I could send a message inland a thousand or more
miles, and could send it without the medium of wire, merely by the power or
force of electricity, to my home thousands of miles away, how easy, is it not,
for God to hear our prayers, who understands, and knows all things, long
before we ever thought of such wonderful inventions and who has power over all
things!
Is it any wonder that the Lord can hear you when you whisper, even in
your secret closet? Is there any doubt in your minds about it? If man can
communicate across the continent by means of a telephone without wires -- by
means of human invention, by reason of the wisdom of man, is there any one who
doubts the ability of God to hear the earnest, honest supplication of the
soul? Do not doubt any more that the Lord can hear your prayers, when, with a
small instrument, sensitive to the electric spark, you can distinctly hear the
human voice in your home received from the ocean thousands of miles away. When
you can communicate to some one in the midst of the ocean from your home, far
inland from the ocean -- do not for a moment doubt that the Lord understands
all these means of communication and that he has means of hearing and
understanding your innermost, exact thoughts. "Prayer is the soul's sincere
desire, uttered or unexpressed." It does not take many words to ask the Lord
for what we need; but we must ask in faith, confidence and trust. It will not
do to have doubts in our minds when we call upon the Lord for a blessing. "If
any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally,
and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith,
nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with
the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything
of the Lord." (James 1:5-7.)
When a little child bows down in its perfect simplicity and asks the
Father for a blessing, the Father hears the voice, and will answer in
blessings upon his head, because the child is innocent and asks in full trust
and confidence.
These are simple principles that I have sought to impress upon your
minds. They are simple, but necessary, and essential. There is no mystery
about them, there is no mystery in the birth of man into the world, when you
understand the laws of nature, which are the laws of God -- no mystery about
it. There will be no more mystery in the resurrection from the dead to life
and everlasting light, than there is in the birth of man into the world, when
we understand the truth, as we will some day, as the Lord of glory instituted
it. There is no mystery in the birth or begetting of the Son of God, nor
regarding his birth into the world. It was just as natural, and as strictly in
accordance with the laws of nature and of God, as the birth of any one of his
children, the birth of any one of us. It was simply in accordance with truth,
and law and order. Will the men of the world receive the gospel? Will they
hearken to the truth? Or will they mystify the truth and seek to becloud the
children of men over simple truths when they should understand them? From the
middle-aged to the gray-haired man, as well as the youth, all should
understand the principles of the gospel, the simple truths given for the
redemption and exaltation of man. -- Granite Stake Conference, Sunday, Nov.
25, 1917.
BLESSING FROM OBEDIENCE. Every good and perfect gift comes from the
Father of Light, who is no respecter of persons and in whom there is no
variableness, nor shadow of turning. To please him we must not only worship
him with thanksgiving and praise, but render willing obedience to his
commandments. By so doing he is bound to bestow his blessings; for it is upon
this principle (obedience to law) that all blessings are predicated. --
Improvement Era, Vol. 21, December, 1917.